It was around midnight when they finally arrived in Shreveport. Somehow, some lookouts managed to see Alissa's approach and warn all of the survivors despite the darkness. Just like before, all of them ran to the dungeon, and also, just like before, Ryan had to solve that mess again.

"This isn't good for our heart," Daniel sighed. "Anyway, it looks like you found some survivors."

Alissa completely ignored Daniel, and she ran to see Arthur sleeping in Mia's arms. Ryan also ignored him because this time he saw some faces he didn't see the last time he had been there, John was one of them, as well as Holland and Angela.

"This is colonel Mark Hughes. He has a proposal to all of you," Ryan said. "Just give him a minute to recover from the trip."

After a few minutes, the Colonel recovered and began to talk. Surprisingly, he talked about how the world ended from his perspective and about the number of men he lost who tried to protect those same men's families. He also mentioned that he has been keeping an eye on the survivors of Shreveport for the last few days, thanks to Alissa and Ryan's presence. It was a bit too sudden given his usual methods, but the colonel really was trying to change his ways.

As expected, Cole and John didn't find the prospect of joining the army in this situation a bad idea. After all, they wouldn't be soldiers but an independent force that would work with Mark and his men. However, Lilian and Daniel didn't seem that eager to accept the proposal for some reason.

"While I think that is the best thing we could do considering our whole group, I can't decide this for every single person here," Lilian said.

"While I think the majority will want to join, a good part won't accept it," Daniel said. "What do you think, Ryan?"

"Don't ask me. I am not a part of any group," Ryan replied.

"But aren't you going to work with the general now and then?" Daniel insisted.

"He is a colonel, and yes, but only now and then when I see fit," Ryan replied. "He has some resources. I think it will be useful. I am sure he can also find my skills useful in some sort of way."

"I think we should leave some people behind," Mia said.

"Mia?" Daniel frowned at her words.

"You know, because of the dungeons," Mia added. "We can't let the monsters multiply, and in terms of efficiency, it will be better if we leave at least six of us in each dungeon."

That was an option that Ryan considered, but he didn't want to use. Things go wrong somewhere, and those survivors might become a problem in the future. He would rather leave his tamed beasts behind and obtain all the possible coins and rewards of a certain dungeon to himself. Ryan knew that he was becoming quite greedy as of late, but things would be better that way since the chance of a bad turn of events would decrease.

"If you don't mind, we need some time to talk among ourselves," John said. "Can we give you a proper answer tomorrow morning?"

"Of course," Mark said.

Ryan wanted to see things being solved as fast as possible since he planned to check his tamed beasts while Alissa moves the survivors to Indianapolis. However, even though he could face most monsters, facing more than one dragon at a time was out of the question. Besides, Ryan would need some time to prepare. Considering all that, it would be better if he moves at night since he was going to separate from Alissa for a while.

In any case, since Ryan didn't have anything better to do, he decided to train his elemental manipulations as well as level up Meditation. However, it looked like fate had other plans for him.

"Big bro!" Zoe waved her hands while she was approaching alongside her father.

"… I am not your big bro," Ryan replied after a few seconds of silence and then closed his eyes again.

"Thank you for helping Daddy!" Zoe said.

Ryan sighed. In the end, he could be harsh as much as he wanted to adults, but not to such a sweet child. Still, getting close to others wasn't something he was interested in any longer, so he decided to finish that conversation as fast as possible.

"I don't need your thanks," Ryan said. "Rather than that, repay the favor with some information. Did you guys see many dragons coming and going around these parts?"

"Yes," Miles replied. "I believe we saw between fifteen and twenty dragons in the last three days. It is quite tiring to be at alert for so long. Fortunately, nothing happened, and we all responded to the threat in time."

That was good. It showed that those idiots weren't a lost cause. Still, the number was smaller than Ryan thought… maybe even though they can't fight the megalodons on the sea, they are still trying to fight them close to those areas. Fantasy stories taught Ryan that dragons were prideful creatures. Orgar was a fine example of that.

"I see, that is all, now we are even," Ryan said.

"Big bro, are you going to stay with us now?" Zoe asked. "Daddy and I are going with everyone to the place you said, right Daddy?"

"Yes," Miles nodded.

"I am not your…" Ryan took a deep breath to calm down again. "I don't intend to stay to any place for long. That is all you need to know."

Zoe changed quite a bit in the last few days. Before, she was a timid child who had some attitude, but now she was happy that he was with her father… the loss of her mother was something said, but she already had moved on from it. Looking at Zoe, Ryan couldn't help but wonder if he shouldn't do the same… move on from his past instead of letting the pain he felt before control most of his actions.